Discover the fascinating world of genetic genealogy! Written for the non-scientist, YGG is the best source for unbiased news on the major genealogy DNA testing companies.
Written by CeCe Moore, an independent professional genetic genealogist and television consultant.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

23andMe Sale on Monday!

23andMe has jumped the gun and is having their expected DNA Day Sale a bit early. The price will be $9 per month for a minimum of 12 months ($108) with no upfront charges. The following email was sent out to select customers:

"Although DNA Day is officially April 15th, we at 23andMe just couldn't wait that long. So we're celebrating a bit early with a big sale!

For a limited time, you canordera 23andMe kit for $0 up front, plus a 12-month commitment to our Personal Genome Service® at $9/month. This is down from the regular price of $199 plus $9/month.

Existing customers on our v2 genotyping platform can also take advantage of this sale to upgrade to the latest v3 platform for the same price by going tohttps://www.23andme.com/user/upgrade/. Once your sample has been processed, you'll receive data on nearly 1 million places in your genome, information about your distant ancestry, and access to more than 180 health reports (optional). With the Personal Genome Service®, we'll also help you connect with potential relatives to fill out your family tree and keep you up to date on the latest research linking genetics to your health and traits. Learn more at http://www.23andme.com.

This promotional price will be available from 12:00AM PST until 11:59PM PST on Monday 4/11/11, or while supplies last! Best Regards,
The 23andMe Team "

Yes it is a binding contract, meaning that both parties are making a (minimum) 12 month commitment to each other. I'm sure that one could do what you propose, however 23andMe would have the right to pursue collection activity. Do they want to be chasing a small group of unethical customers? Probably not.

Thanks CeCe for the heads-up! I might have missed this otherwise. I have just added a post on my blog http://goo.gl/Sk5ic to help spread the word. This competition between 23andMe and FTDNA can be very useful to all of us as long as those new to genetic testing understand the difference between the product lines and pricing structures of the two companies.

I'm a bit wary of 23andme because when i tried to order the package about a year or two ago, their cc form failed to take my cc and when I tried to get support on the issue, they were not only slow to respond but completely unhelpful. I was sitting there with money in hand to give them and they couldn't do anything for me. I hope they start to invest in their customer support because I'm scarred right now.

@MEJ- No. Your kit stays under the terms that you purchased it.@lancecarlson - They do report on blood type, however for a couple of my kits, they could not determine it. One had a no-call and one had a result that was inconclusive. My other 10 kits all had a blood type reported. Glad to hear you are going to order. Please let me know how it goes.

I was thinking about having this analysis made for me for a while too. Unfortunately, I am in Brazil and the website haven't got it on the list. I already sent an email to CeCe. If it's not possible do ship it directly, can I have it shipped to a US address ou German address? And will the person who will carry it to me get through customs without problems? Thanks!

@blekk- Where are you? It is $67.50 to the UK. They use DHL, so that is a "real" cost for them.@rnorwood - If you received a confirmation email, then your order went through. You can always email help@23andme.com for more info.@Marcale - Many people do what you are proposing with no problems. If you can ship it to a friend elsewhere, they can send it to you in Brazil. I am not an expert on customs, but I know it has been done successfully in the past.

I haven't checked this out myself, but someone on the 23andMe forum said that you can have your kit shipped to this company and they can ship it to your international address. Might be worth a look:http://www.shipito.com/"Basically, you order the kit to their address, and then they ship it to you via regular air mail for less than 10$"